Securing a Quick-Release Plate: That Annoying Moment When You Wished You Had a Coin in Your Pocket

I own a couple of tripods, a heavy duty SLIK PRO 500DX and a quite recent addition to the inventory a smaller, light weight Fotopro FPH-53P both units come with the convenience of a quick-release plate. The SLIK PRO being bigger and a lot more robust comes with a proportionately bigger quick-release plate that’s also easier to tighten. The Fotopro on the other hand is smaller and like most smaller QR plates, the screw head is slotted so you can additionally tighten it an extra notch or two using a coin or a flat head screw driver. The problem is there had been times when I neither had a coin nor any type of screw driver with me during a shoot so at inopportune times when I really needed to tighten the plate it can be super annoying to have to deal with an attachment that requires periodic re-tightening throughout the shoot.

Once, I inserted a Phillips screwdriver (couldn’t find a flat head) through the metal clip and turned it a tad too much, the clip snapped off the screw head. Not cool.Looked around the house and found something off a keychain that fits the slot perfectly and size big enough to tighten without using much effort unlike when you use a small coin.

The though of drilling a hole in a coin had crossed my mind but at the same time questioned the legality of doing something like that. Thankfully this copper piece with a punched tip saved the day.

Here’s the thing. In order to make sure the I have convenient access to the ‘key’ whenever I need it, I strapped the copper piece to a retractable lanyard that’s securely attached to the tripod with a Velcro fastener.It’s back to work once the camera is securely tightened to the quick release plate.

Superb site you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any user discussion forums
that cover the same topics talked about in this article?
I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get advice from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thank you!|